"If they're with a male who has more power and status," because he is older, "this might make it harder for young women to say, 'No I don’t want to have sex,'" Meier said.

There can be physical consequences for young women in these sexual relationships, too.

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"Based on 29 years of practice," Lee added, "I don't think you could be that mature at 17. Mani Pavuluri, director of the Pediatric Brain Research and Intervention Center and professor of psychiatry at the University of Illinois Chicago, teenage brains are still in the process of developing until age 19 or 20."Even if the girl would prefer to be using some type of contraceptive, she's less likely to do so if the guy has more power in the relationship," said Jennifer Manlove, a senior research scientist with the organization.As the age gap increases, Manlove explained, the likelihood of using contraceptives decreases.She argued that these relationships are too harshly criticized.For her, they were positive experiences -- she even saw the potential for marriage with some of the men. But if you want to be taken care of, the house needs to be cleaned and dinner on the stove when we get home from working an actual job. You want to blame younger guys because they don't want to take care of lazy butts.